Promises
by Hitoko-sama
Summary: On summer's night, seven years ago, Sasuke and Naruto made a promise; a promise that if they were still single at 25, they would get married. On the eve on Naruto's 25th year, Sasuke returns with the full intent of claiming his prize but the blond has forgotten all about the promise. Can Sasuke make Naruto stick to his word? SasuNaru, Yaoi. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: **__There are some things in this chapter which reference religion and a literary look at the Bible. Please do not take them seriously. I'm just a twenty year-old woman who will tell you straight up that I'm too young to really know anything about anything. It is JUST an objective look at what has been written across religions. If you like what you read though, do more research about it or ask me for sources. Thank you for understanding. _

**Wow, hello, hello, my most beautiful of people. Promises is finally a-go. I really hope you guys enjoy the first chapter. I worked really hard on it, please be kind to me and my tired, old bones. Naruto's POV  
-**

The literary department was dead, a calm settling through the walls. There was no flip-flopping of my fellow graduate students, all hurrying to make big paper deadlines. There was no hurried steps of professors with huge stacks of papers to grade. Midterms were finally over. For another three weeks it would be silenced and peaceful in the building.

I walked to my office, morning coffee in hand. During midterm week, everyone was always in a panic. And I always had to be vigilant so no one would spill my coffee via slamming into me, practically a stress zombie. It was like a frenzy, no apologies, no nothing. But now, everyone was elated. Suffering and cramming phonebook sized papers into office slots were a thing of the past.

I sat down at my desk, placing my coffee on the small coaster in the corner of my workspace. The rest of it was filled with books, knick-knacks, graded papers students hadn't bothered to pick up. I sighed, contemplating pulling my laptop out of my bag. I needed to get some work done for my lesson plan…But I couldn't focus.

There was something nagging me at the back of my mind. A little red flag but I couldn't quite figure out what it really meant. I had made sure, three different times that I had turned in everything for my graduate classes. My portfolios were good, stylized, edited, and there was nothing left for me to do.

But it was just there. A feeling that I was forgetting something.

Who knows, though?

I glanced up at my door when I heard soft thudding against the wood. "Come on in." Sai, my roommate, came waltzing in. He was wearing that annoying black half-shirt and dark jean combo that drove me nuts. Considering he was also so supposed to have an air of sophistication to him, this outfit never ever said graduate student. It was even more unnerving since we lived in the misty, cold northwest where the sky could open up a torrent at any second.

He waved, wiggling all of his fingers as he entered my office. His short raven hair looked wet, as though he rushed over from our apartment to be here. I raised an eyebrow. "Braving the depths of Padelford, are we?" He stopped short, right in front of my desk. I hadn't sat down quite yet. I blinked a few times. "Did you forget how to get to Guthrie hall or something?"

Sai was smiling at me, dark, onyx eyes peering at me through equally dark lashes, not hiding a hint of amusement in them. He slapped something down onto my desk and I felt a jolt of panic rising up through my blood. I held the small stack of papers in my hands, shaking with the sheer stupidity only I could possess. "A certain someone forgot their Associate Professor application this morning. Rejoice that I, Sai, your loving roommate have such great foresight."

"I could kiss you, you know that?" I said, looking over the pages in my hand. I stood up from my desk. I needed to deliver this right away. Today was the last day for applications and if forgot this, well, my life would effectively be over.

Sai stepped in front of my, grabbing onto my wrist, to pull me closer to him. I scoffed. "If you insist."

I sidestepped him, smiling at him. "Save it for our honeymoon."

"You mean the one we're not having?"

"Exactly!"

I half-jogged, half-walked to Kakashi's office. He was the current head of the literature department. And he would be the one who decide my fate. Being an Associate Professor would allow me to stay here after Graduate school for at least another year or two. Then my life would be mine. I could transfer out of this school, I could attempt to be a full time professor with actual tenure and everything. It would be glorious.

But of course, Kakashi could very well deny me and I would have to find a job. I did not want to be a copy-write guy. Eight hours a day writing up legal mumbo-jumbo, my wrist would physically fall off and I would no longer be able to do anything with my entire life, Sai would kick me out, and I'd be forced to move back in with Iruka, probably start teaching High school and cry myself to sleep every night. I shivered. I shouldn't work myself up like that.

"Thinking about teaching High School again?" Sai was keeping pace beside me, awfully persistent today. I nodded; he knew me pretty well by now. We had been living together since we were undergraduates. And looking back, that seemed like forever ago. He was smiling again, something I was never completely okay with. His smiles were like…I didn't know how to explain them. On the surface, they seemed polite, correct, but when you looked past them, into his eyes, you knew there was nothing there to support it.

"Why are you even here? Besides to brighten my day, of course." I spat, sarcasm dripping from words even though I smiled at him. Sai smirked.

"Classes for me don't start until eleven." Sai said as I stopped, slipping my application into the wrack on Kakashi's door. "And my office hours aren't until one so I have time to kill. Besides, I remember a certain someone who needed a certain application…"

I paused, looking at him and then looking down at the watch on my wrist. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS ALMOST TEN THIRTY!? I HAVE CLASS IN FIVE MINUTES!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't sleep in so late, so you'll actually know what time it is when you get to your office." Sai offered, smiling.

I shoved him out of my way, running back to my office to grab my bag.

WHY DID MY CLASSROOM HAVE TO BE HALFWAY ACROSS CAMPUS?!

I shuffled in, nearly late. My students were all chatting, sitting around in their friend groups, some were quiet, sleep-ridden. Some looked like they were about to fall over with exhaustion. You'd think after so many years at college, you'd get used to the stress crunch, but it effects everyone differently; like me, I do best under pressure. Maybe one day my students will find the way to stave off the constant stress of the quarter.

I pulled out a small container of chalk from my bag; still secretly hating who decided to give me one of the older rooms without a projector. It wasn't that big of a hassle, really, but sometimes my handwriting was a little on the god-awful side. I cleared my throat causing a lull to spread throughout the room. Everyone turned towards me, some smiling, some looking utterly bored, some secretly texting beneath their tables. Can't win 'em all, I guess.

"Good morning everyone." I said, smiling to them. They muttered replies back. Sometimes I wondered if I should stick with teaching later in the day classes so everyone was more lively but ten thirty really wasn't that early…I thought.

"Today, we're going to be larger picturing the Bible. Since this is a Bible as literature class, we have to be objective in our interpretations of passages, characters, and symbolism." I said, writing down 'archetypes' on the board with the chalk. I'd learned by now that if you press lightly enough, it wouldn't squeak but would still be dark enough. Nothing like learning how to write in chalk…

"And I know what you're all thinking, 'Naruto, this is the exact same thing you said on the first day of class.' And well, you're right. I did say that. However, it seems like people enjoy checking out part-way through the quarter and blatantly ignoring everything I said in the first two weeks of class about objectivism. I only say it to remind you."

I turned towards the class, watching as their faces stared back at me, bored. I always felt a little irked when I never got a reaction out of them. But, whatever, they had post-midterm brain. "So, while we've examined small territory within the Bible; the stories, parables and the like, we still have yet to cover major ground..."

Everyone pulled out their notebooks, flipping pages and clicking pencils and pens in an out of sync rhythm. "Now, small disclaimer. I know, another one after the one I just gave. Sorry, it is necessary. This is a literature class, which means we have to look at themes in other works, compare them, and then see the inherent operation of such tools as a whole. That brings me to part two of the disclaimer; if any of you come up to me after class to yell at me about what I say during this lecture, I will say to you what I say every quarter to every single butt-hurt undergraduate. This class," I paused, pointing around the room. "Is not a bible studies class. My _job_ is to tear apart literary symbolism and themes to show you how meaning is circumscribed inside sentences. If this lecture offends you because it attempts to broaden your thinking, perhaps instead of getting mad, you should interrogate your belief system and reaffirm connections for yourself. Get it? Everyone clear? Good. Shall we begin then?"

I never give them enough time to answer anymore. Gotta keep them off their game so no one tries to interject with something that directly violates everything I usually say in my disclaimer. I shouldn't even need one; we're all in a University setting. But, it didn't matter. People believed what they wished and when challenged get defensive…Same story, time and time again.

"First, context. As always we need context to further understand theme. Where would we be without our almighty context to guide us?" I said with a smile. I turned my back to the classroom, hearing the opening and click of the door. Whoever it was only a few minutes late so I guess for now I wouldn't chastise them. I didn't even acknowledge them by turning around. I really don't want to get branded with the stamp of the mean teacher this early in my career.

I stared to draw a huge circle in the middle of the board, cutting two lines through the top to the bottom and again going right to left. Inside the four divisions, I cut them even smaller until there were twelve sections. I pulled my hand back, moving out of the way so that everyone could fully see what I had drawn. "Can anyone name what I'm drawing in this incompletely state?"

"It's the pictorial representation chart of the constellations, seasons, and the equinoxes." A girl in the front said.

"Right. And just to save time and your eyes, I won't draw in the symbols for the constellations, just names." I put down the chalk. "Now a lot of what we know about the not-so long ago, long ago is that they were avid watchers of the sky. How do we know this?" I pointed up to the board, to my crude circle. "We have plenty of evidence which suggests a fair amount of cultures had an intense interest in the sky; the sun in particular. They understood the implications of the sun itself, meaning, that they understood when the sun went down it would be cooler, it would be darker, and it would be typically more dangerous. And that, my dear students, gives us one of the most common literary themes in the history of books. Does anyone know which one?"

Silence was usually golden but…

Better just continue.

I picked up the chalk again, passing it between my hands. "Oh, sorry time has run out. Good versus evil is the theme I was thinking of. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'But Naruto, good and evil are always characters in some way, not just the day and the night. The setting is usually for context and atmosphere' and wow, great observation, but that's not exactly true, is it? Evil and good can be presented as just the day and the night. And if they sometimes when they are, they are juxtaposed to convey a theme; never just thrown on a page without care mind you. But as it were, even in a symbolic form, the day and night alone don't pack as much punch as a character we can outright identify as evil or good. Protagonist, antagonist. However, that leaves us with the question of…Well, if the sun isn't a character and just a symbol how do we know the sun has characteristics that can be shared in the first place?"

My fingers were already powdered white from the dust clinging to them as I turned to write. I wrote 'personification' on the board. "When we attribute human like qualities to objects, we personify them. We make them human in nature. It is also how we can explain objects; like the sun. If we give human characteristics to something like the sun, it makes the super-human characteristics otherworldly BUT plausible. And then, we can reapply them to character it allows them to seem larger than themselves because they share these traits with, well, things larger than ourselves. And that my lovely students, is the origins of Gods, in literary context."

Underneath what I had written earlier, I added 'virgin mother, December twenty-fifth, twelve followers, crucifixion, and resurrection.' "Even if you have a very limited understanding of the Bible, these themes should spell out one person and that person would be…Obviously…Jesus." I wrote that name on the board. "But of course, there's a reason I've put all of these characteristics underneath the 'archetype' category. Because I can name at least five god-like figures who share similar, if not EXACT traits with Jesus and they all pre-date him."

The room was silent, taking in the information, formulating it in the notebooks as they scribbled furiously. "Krishna, Dionysus, Romulus, Buddha, and Horas; just some I can think of on the top of my head. While not all of them will share exact stories, there are things that each possess that Jesus also possesses. But why is that important? Can anything answer me that?"

Ever silent, as always, I shook my head. "Kind of important…Kind of an important aspect of literature…Kind of why books across countries work…" I muttered. I let out a long sigh. I turned back to the board, about to circle the word 'archetype' which I had written as the lecture title.

"Jesus is an archetype," my fingers shook with the sudden voice. "He shares numerous characteristics with other, major religious figures. He is a character, rehashed and given a new face with every religion. In that way, he is far more relatable than something sharing no characteristics with the deities of that region. In a pessimistic sort of thinking, it makes Christianity's spread across cultures intrinsically simple."

I was stunned, turning so that I could face the class. There was no way. That voice wasn't…

And that's when I saw him, sitting in the back of the room. He was staring back at me and I felt my heart thudding in my chest. Why was he here?

How did I not notice him before?

"Well, yes. Though, not exactly what I was looking for I do appreciate your bravery…Sasuke." I turned away from him, feeling suddenly awkward. I think everyone was starting to notice too because they all seemed very interested in Sasuke. They obviously knew he isn't a regular student. "What I was trying to get at is that while the stories are 'rehashed' as you so assert, their themes connect them to cultural beliefs; usually shared ones. That, in turn, makes the stories more universally available. Across cultures, the characteristics are familiar; they give a certain meaning to the stories, no matter the region. But, this meaning itself is not some mystery, since Jesus shares these characteristics, his teachings and stories make sense to the people that are introduced to them. So, agreeably, yes, Christianity can spread more easily across cultures. Not my main point though…"

I looked around the room. Why did I feel such a strong tension between myself and Sasuke all of a sudden? I just noticed he was here! I bit the inside of my cheek. Everyone was still taking small glances at him; girls in the front row were giggling. I slammed my hand down by them so they would quiet down. "Any questions before we move on?"

A hand went up in the back, about four or five seats away from Sasuke. Whoever it was must have either been really short, or they were ducking their head down. "So, like…" Oh God, please spare me. "Is this the Sasuke you were with in High School? I'm texting Gaara and I need the details." Sai's head popped up from behind the student he was sitting behind.

"Sai, what are you doing in here? Get out." I felt a push of anger in my blood as I glared at him. He was lucky there were four rows of tables separating us otherwise I would have been all over him. And I pack quite a punch.

"This is your Jesus lecture. It's my favorite. I'm always here for Jesus day." Sai kicked back in his seat. "You gunna answer my question?"

I briefly looked at the clock. "Alright, everyone, early day. If you have questions email me, otherwise have a nice day."

Sasuke was smirking the entire time. My eyes were fixed on him, fixed on that face. It was just as I remembered it. Strongly structured, aristocratic nose, pale as the day he was born, lips cherry red with life…Framed with raven feathers that always seemed to sparkle with an odd blue tint. I felt heat in my face as he sat there, watching my students leave.

Sai was still there too, much to my dismay. I frowned. "Sai, out. Now."

"I brought you coffee." Sai said in a sing-song voice, shaking the ice drink from the back of the room. "I bet you my entire paintbrush collection that this morning you forgot your coffee on your desk. You were in quite a hurry." I slunk towards him, grabbing the coffee from his hand, mumbling my thanks under my breath. I drank the entire cup in record time.

"Okay, now get out." Sai just patted me on the cheek. He was lucky I didn't bite him. "Sai, don't you have class to attend to? I thought you said it started at eleven?"

He smiled at me; an almost all-too-knowing smile. "Naruto, it's Thursday. I teach on Mondays and Fridays. If I had let you know the truth about my classes, you would have definitely thrown your box of chalk at me when I walked in." He tricked me this morning; that bastard. He was _oh_ so smart. I rolled my eyes. "But aside from that, I feel as though you're being quite rude, Naruto. You haven't introduced Sasuke and I."

Sasuke was sitting there in his seat still; I felt the heat in my cheeks as I glanced over my shoulder at him. He'd been silent the entire time, enjoying my little scene with Sai. Of course, Sasuke loved this kind of thing; he always said I was the cutest when I was flustered.

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly; my smile was probably too wide and too nervous looking to be normal. I sighed. "Sasuke, this is my roommate and socially inept friend, Sai. Sai, this is Sasuke."

Sai waved; the annoying wave I really hate where he looks like he's clawing the air, like an idiot. Sasuke just smirked, eyes cast away from Sai. Yep, typical Sai and Sasuke. And I surrounded myself with people like this. I must be as stupid as everyone said.

Sasuke stood up suddenly, putting a hand on my shoulder. His thumb rubbed circles gently into the muscle. His mouth opened, parting his lip slightly as he leaned closer to the two of us. "As nice as it was to meet you, Sai, I'm here on Dobe related business."

I immediately turned, his hand pulling back from shoulder as our arms wrapped around each other. His body felt just like I remembered; taut with muscle, hard, yet inviting against mine. Against my better judgment, I nuzzled against his neck, bringing a chuckle to his lips. I could hear Sai let out a gasp of excitement as well, but I decided to ignore it.

I pulled back as he leaned in, kissing me gently on the lips. Just a peck, just a small touch, but I nearly shivered. Greeting or not, it was pleasantly unexpected. I flushed nervously, smiling. Time to ignore the awkwardness. I held onto his upper forearms, looking closer at his face. God, he changed. Well, he had grown some, still towering over my short ass, which was to be expected. But his face was more mature, thinner and more angular; the baby fat of our youth finally melted away. But those eyes, they were just as dark, just as deep, just as expressive…

I started to laugh, hugging him against me again. "God, man…I can't believe you're here." I moved my arms up to his face, catching it between my palms. "You look great, Sasuke." I was smiling.

"Can't say the same for you, Dobe."

I wasn't smiling anymore.

I gawked at Sasuke, my jaw slackening with shock. Sai was just sitting behind us, laughing, evilly. Well, to be fair I did let my guard down. Sasuke was quite good at seeing openings and taking them. I gritted my teeth as Sasuke patted me on the head, rubbing my hair in the way he knew I hated.

"Well," I said with a sullen tone. "At least Sakura will be happy you're here."

"I've just met him and I'm happy he's here." Sai snipped, taking a jab at me. At this rate they'll have to change the expression to 'kill two ravens with one stone' because that's what I was going to do.

Sasuke leaned against the table. "Don't pout, Dobe."

"So, why are you here anyway? It's been awhile since you were in back in Seattle."

He smirked at me, poking me in the nose. "As I do recall, a certain blond Dobe has a birthday on Saturday." My stomach felt like it was in a knot.

I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow at him, leaning so I could look him fully in the face. "Teme, we both know you didn't come back just for my birthday."

"Believe what you will, then." Sasuke said with a shrug. "But, I will also be a graduate student here as well, from tomorrow onward."

Sai and I probably had the same face when he said that. It was incredibly rare to get new graduate students this late in the quarter, hell, this late into their academic career. At the beginning, sure. People transferred colleges all the time. But this was just strange. Sasuke must have had some very extenuating circumstances to lead him here.

"Did something happen at your college? Did you kill someone?" I eyed him suspiciously.

Sasuke scoffed. "Oh yes, because coming back to Seattle after murdering someone would be the best move." He shook his head, looking almost too amused.

"Ted Bundy did go to this university." Sai added suddenly. "God bless the Northwest."

"Don't mind Sai, he's a psych major." I replied. Sasuke rolled his eyes, seeming a little impatient.

"Psych and art major." Sai corrected, holding up a single finger, shaking it at me. "I'm going to be an art therapist."

"Nobel," Sasuke commented, hands on his hips.

"What about you, Sasuke? I doubt you're an English major like good ol' dick-less."

"Dick-less?" Sasuke asked, giving me his full attention. A smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Don't you even start with me, Teme."

"I'm an engineer." Sasuke replied, seeming to pick up on my mood. Though I knew later, he would mock me about this. He had a keen mind for everything. "And as for the earlier question, I was having quite a deal of trouble with my lead professor, Orochimaru. He was not at all professional in his conduct and I grew quite tired of his actions, so much so that I decided I couldn't stay out on the East coast. This may not have been my first choice, being that it is only be a second-tier research university, but it'll do. Itachi is a very big figure in the physics department and I knew he'd give me a good word. But as chance would have it, they needed physics teaching assistance due to one dropping out in the middle of the quarter. They gave me a stipend to move back here as soon as I could. I flew in last night."

"Sounds like you lucked out." I mused while nibbling the inside of my lip.

"Yes and I was quite glad for it." Sasuke relaxed his stance. "Otherwise, I would have been lucky to get in after winter, at the earliest. And I didn't know if I could handle Orochimaru for another quarter…" Sasuke's brow twitched, showing the annoyance on his face. Sasuke really must have hated him a lot to just drop everything and suddenly transfer.

"So, what are you teaching? I doubt it's something upper division." I inquired, shifting my weight to my other foot. "If they were desperate for a TA, it must have been for something that had quite a large class size."

"Yeah, well, they want to test me out too, you know?" Sasuke seemed even more annoyed about that as he sighed quite loudly. "They said a great deal of my course evaluation weren't counted as valid because most of them always mentioned something about how I looked. For now, I'm teaching physics one-twenty-one."

I huffed, jealousy hitting my blood. Why did he get nice course evaluations? I bet I could teach circles around him. "Your course evaluations must be slightly better than mine, right? I've gotten so many 'you're going to hell' comments teaching this class that Sai and I pin the funniest ones of the fridge."

"Good times." Sai said, smiling.

"For what it's worth, from what I saw today, you're quite engaging in your lectures. I quite enjoyed it." Sasuke was smirking at me, patting me on the arm. It was strangely kind gesture from him. He wasn't known for his compliments, especially about my intelligence. "Though, if you want to see what real teaching looks like, you might want to stop by Kane one-thirty around noon tomorrow."

"You really haven't changed at all, have you?" I nearly yelled, feeling anger surging up my back. Sai was laughing again.

There was a knock at the door behind us, a man, around our age poking his head in. He looked a little nervous. "Are you guys finished yet? My class starts soon."

I nodded, walking back up to the board, clearing off the chalk and picking up my things. Sasuke and Sai both waited for me as we mumbled our apologies and left. We walked out into the hall, the creakiness of the floorboards in Parrington always made me slightly nervous. It always seemed like they might just crack and break at any moment. I really hoped it wasn't me who landed in that situation.

It was surreal, walking next to Sasuke as we descended down the stairs. I would have never thought he'd step a single foot back in Seattle, especially for longer than a visit. I knew from Itachi, Sasuke didn't come back a lot. And when he did, it was almost random, sometimes not even coinciding with a vacation period. Maybe that Orochimaru guy really got under Sasuke's skin. He must have really needled Sasuke with his shit badly if he abandoned an Ivy League for, what the media dubbed, 'a public ivy'.

We crossed the street, entering Red Square. I nearly tripped over a missing brick hole. Damn seniors. I would never understand this tradition. Creating pot-holes for their fellows students? Seems quite rude if you asked me. Sasuke pressed himself against my side to help me settle, Sai just chuckling under his breath. I could feel another flush heading up my neck when I felt Sasuke's body against mine. It was there. His warmth. Even through his sweatshirt, I could just feel his body heat radiating out.

Sasuke glanced over towards the Quad; the overcast of the sky blocking out the sun, shadowing his face even though it was late morning. "Ah, I spy an Itachi." I looked in that direction, the black hair swinging in a loose ponytail. He was glancing down at a large book, his glasses sliding down his nose as he focus on the words in front of him. "Hey, I'm going to go catch up with him. Text me?"

"You bet, Teme." We stopped walking and Sasuke pulled me into a strong hug. His fingers were pressing into the material of my raincoat and I could feel them clearly rubbing small circles in my back.

"It was nice to meet you, finally." Sai said with a smile, shaking Sasuke's hand. "I look forward to seeing you around." Sasuke nodded, waving to us as he jogged over to Itachi. He smiled as soon as Sasuke pulled on the fabric of his jacket.

I turned towards Sai, a smile creeping up my features. It was making my mouth twitch as I tried to suppress it. He put a hand on my shoulder and from just the look on his face I could tell he was about to make our shared apartment a warzone.  
-

Sai stood in the kitchen, snapping open a can of Red Bull. He had just come back from his shift at Starbucks and obviously being around coffee all day doesn't equate to all day energy. I moved past him, pulling out the carton of orange juice in the fridge, taking a large swig before setting it back down. He was smiling at me; that eerie smile which told me he was about to play my least favorite game with me. 'TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT WHEN YOU AND SASUKE DATED!'

He was about to open his mouth when I immediately cut him off. "Sai, no. I've told you for the millionth time, what happened between me and Sasuke is old news." I said, almost glaring him down. My old love life is just that, old. And me repeating it and harping on it is not going to change what happened. Our relationship was inevitably doomed; I was tired of seeming like I was dwelling on it. Of course, his sudden reappearance was not helping. "I don't understand why you're so interested!"

"Better question; how could I not be?" Sai was pacing around the kitchen, barring me from leaving the shared space. "When I saw the two of you together today all I could think about was 'Wow, I totally ship them. OTP, ten out of ten.'"

"Sai! I'm done with this. Sasuke and I broke up like _seven_ years ago." I said waving my hands with exasperation. "He's just here because circumstances played him this hand."

"But he's excited for your birthday!" Sai said, nearly leaping in the air with excitement and almost spilling his Red Bull in the process. "I bet you anything he got you his dick as a present!"

"Shouldn't you be less excited about this? You're my ex-boyfriend for god's sake!"

"I don't see how that changes anything. I want to see you happy, too, you know." He was smiling. "And you looked very happy with him."

I sighed. "I'm not telling you anything. You know everything you _need_ to know about our relationship."

"How about a little competition?" Sai said with a smirk on his face. "We play a game, if you win, you don't have to tell me anything and I'll drop it; won't ever ask again. If I win, well, I'm hearing all the nasty details."

My jaw slackened with annoyance, leaning against the counter of our kitchen. I was shaking my head, rolling my eyes and thinking just how stupid it was. Though, if I did manage to win, he would finally leave it alone. Let the past stay there, dead and buried underneath the sands of time. I looked over at him, smiling and looking quite sure of himself. I sighed. "Fine. Name the game."

Sai smiled even wider. "Only the best game known to man; Monopoly."

I shivered, crossing my arms. "Absolutely not. I'm not sitting down for three fucking hours and playing that game with you." I poked him in the chest. "Besides, last time you got so mad when I won, you didn't talk to me for nearly a week. I am not dealing with that again."

"Dick-less." He commented just to irk me. Sai smiled still. If Sai wasn't my roommate, I might have just murdered him. We can dream. "Though, you're right." He paced into the kitchen, throwing his can of Red Bull into the recycling. "Okay, how about Super Smash Bros, one round; to the victor goes the spoils."

It was finally my turn to smirk. "Oh, you're going fucking down."

~**ONE ROUND LATER~**

"GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!" I swore, nearly throwing my controller to the ground. "How the fuck did you do that?!"

"Because I play Kirby and I play to win." He commented, completely serious for a change.

I could feel myself on the brink of having a rage-seizure. I was not a very good loser, for one, and now I had to fucking tell him. I had to bring out all of Sasuke and I's dirty laundry for him to inspect. I literally just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for the rest of my life.

"Okay, story time. Don't leave anything out please." Sai put down his controller, smiling at me. He turned, throwing his legs over mine on the couch, like he wanted to trap me. I just wanted to slam his face down on the coffee table.

"Well, I don't even know where you want me to start." I said, shaking my head. "I mean, Sasuke and I had like a relationship-not-relationship for years."

"Start wherever. I've waited for this moment for years."

I wanted to cry with exasperation. "Fine, I'll just start at the beginning so you won't ask so many questions later. Sasuke and I met in middle school; we absolutely hated each other. He was an arrogant prick who had his head shoved too far up his own ass. And then there was me; awkward, lanky, short, inferiority complex. We'd get into verbal fights every day; his smug attitude bothered the shit out of me. And then one day, I noticed he was getting harassed by a group of these really annoying fourteen year-old pseudo-thugs. So, I helped him. And by help, I mean I got my ass beat. Sasuke, however, was a goddamn karate master." A small laugh broke Sai's silence and I glared hard at him. "He helped me up, took me back home with him, cleaned me up, and the rest was history."

"So, you got your ass beat, Sasuke took pity on you, and then you two became friends? Only you could make friends like that…"

"Keep up with comments like that and I will refuse to tell you anymore."

"So threatening."

"May I continue?" Sai made a movement with his hand as confirmation. I hated the amused look in his eye. "So then, High school. Sasuke and I were the best of friends. If I wasn't at his house, he was at mine. We actually had a lot in common, even though, at first, it seemed like we would never get along. We did everything together. Like when I got rejected by every girl I asked to prom and Sasuke rejected everyone who asked him, we went together. And I mean, when he came out to me, a lot of his behavior made way more sense…But then he actually confessed to me and told me he'd been thinking about us as a couple for a long time. But by this point, it was already the beginning of senior year. And let me say, it was a little late, but I was still willing to give it a try. I mean, when Sasuke told me he had feelings, it just felt…Right, you know? And deep down, I knew I loved him more than just friendship. I don't know how to explain it."

I bit the inside of my lip. "He was my first. My first kiss, my first relationship, my first lover. Just everything."

"How was the sex?"

"And how exactly did I know you were going to turn this mushy-gushing admittance into my sex-capade?"

"You are talking to me, after all." Sai replied and I rolled my eyes. "Besides, it wouldn't be a good romantic story if you didn't talk about sex."

"I don't know…? Fucking amazing? Best sex I've had?"

"That hurts my feelings." He said, pinching me on the leg.

I smirked at him. "Oh, but I thought you wanted to hear about it?"

"Don't you patronize me." Sai pouted, arms crossed.

"Anyway, our relationship was literally what everyone talked about. I mean it, everyone. Even the teachers talked about it. Everyone had apparently paired us together for like, ever, I guess. But that's when college happened. Sasuke was a genius; absolutely brilliant. Me, eh, I'm a community college before university kind of dude. And I knew…I knew we wouldn't make it past that. He and I both were aware, deep down, we wouldn't end up in the same college and even against his protests; I told him we should break up before we went off to college. He was going to the other side of the country and the long distance would have killed me. I mean, I was used to seeing him every day, all day…" I felt a little pang in my chest. I remembered sobbing so hard telling this to Sasuke and he just held me in his arm, petting my hair and kissing me. It was probably the hardest decision I had ever made.

"The summer before he left, it was filled with warm, sunny days together and longing. I didn't want him to go and I could tell he didn't want to leave, but he was getting a full ride and he couldn't pass it up. The night before he left, we got absolutely smashed, knowing it would numb the hurt. That night…" We laid on Sasuke's floor the entire night, pushing bottles away as we explored each other; need for touch outweighing our other senses. "Was filled with alcohol-soaked kisses, gentle words, and just…Feelings."

Sai wasn't smiling anymore, he wasn't smirking. He was just sitting there, his features actually displaying the hurt I had felt on my loneliest nights without Sasuke. I laughed a little. "We kept in touch, naturally. But I had been right about the distance. He only came back to town for holiday, but even then it was few and infrequent, and the best way for me to keep up with him was email. If we had tried to keep it going, I would have been more than miserable."

I looked at Sai and his featured were soft with sadness. "God, I think I need a shot of tequila just to numb the feelings I have about that story." He muttered, shaking his head. "But I mean, he's back now right? I think he's interested."

I raised my eyebrow at Sai's comment. "I don't think so dude. I mean I still consider him my best friend. We text. He calls me when he's not busy at college. We email each other a lot. Sakura says she even gets emails from him sometimes, so it's not like I'm getting special attention." I sighed, reclining my head back. "Besides, if he was interested in me still, wouldn't he have tried to, I don't know, transfer here when his undergraduate was over?"

Sai was shaking his head.

"I think you're reading too far into the situation." I added quickly.

"How long has it been since you've seen him in person?" Sai asked.

"Uhh…" I bit the inside of my cheek, running a hand through my hair. "My twenty-first birthday. But even that took some doing. I begged him for nearly a year to come and when he did show up, it was totally unexpected. Great surprise, though."

"Did you hook-up?" Sai leaned towards me, smirking.

I rolled my eyes. "Hate to disappoint, but we did not. I mean, that was right before I started dating Gaara. I was trying to find someone else than Sasuke, you know. He lived an airplane away."

Sai smirked again. "Obviously that didn't work."

"Obviously." I mimicked. "But if I had kept dating Gaara, we wouldn't have hooked-up."

He leaned in farther, his nose brushing past mine as our lips touched. Typical Sai. His fingers traced my thighs and I held back a shiver. We hadn't hooked-up in a while either. I tried to keep the sex I had with Sai to a minimum, especially after we broke up, but even I needed a release every once in a while. I let him pull me into his lap, fingers pressing into the back of my neck. "I thought you shipped Sasuke and I?" I mocked. His lips stuck to my neck, sucking gently.

He pulled back. "I do. Call me Sasuke when we do it, okay?" He was smiling again and I didn't hold back. Right in the side of his jaw, I punched him as hard as I could. His head jerked to the side, nearly throwing me off of him. "Too far?" He muttered, rubbing the side of his mouth.

I detangled myself from his mess of limbs and he clicked his tongue, disappointed, yet oddly amused. "You always take it too far."

"Tell me, have you ever told Sasuke about us? Or about Gaara?" Sai asked, still nursing his hurt jaw. I stood up, heading towards the kitchen. Sai moved to the arm of the couch, laying over it as I opened the freezer, pulling out a tray of ice. I gave a few good, cracking twists.

"Kind of." I said, wetting a washcloth and shoving a fist full of ice into it. "I told him that I had been hooking-up sometimes because we got on that topic one night. And I never said who so if you're suddenly worried about Sasuke wanting to kill you because you think he's still got a thing for me, you can rest assured that your true identity is safe with me." I placed the make-shift icepack into Sai's hand as he laid back on the couch, pressing it gently against his cheek.

"I wonder, then…"  
-

**Oh, I wonder what Sai wonders. I bet he's cookin' something up in that deliciously evil mind of his. **

**Naruto: Super, great. Thank you for introducing yet another pile of drama into my life.  
Me: Oh babe, you're welcome. I do this because I care about you.  
Naruto: Sometimes I wonder about you.  
Me: Do you wonder what Sai wonders…about wondering about you about wondering about me?  
Naruto: -stares- Yes?  
Me: Yes, good. This was Hitoko-sama**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, the second chapter of promises :D This is getting better reception than I thought it would but I guess it is pretty awesome, cause you know, it is FULL OF ALL OF MY FEELINGS. Well that got out of hand and this is just the fucking author notes. I hope you guys enjoy the second chapter :D**

**ALSO: Dear guest reviewer that I cannot directly message, salutations and greetings. You sure are quite perceptive and I'm actually quite impressed. To answer some of your questions as unrevealingly as possible I will say that the description (since it has a character limit) has to be concise and sweet so perhaps it is more thought-provoking than I intended. Either way, I applaud you. Very good. **

**Naruto's POV  
-**

"Naruto!" I awoke with a start as Sai literally jumped up and down on my bed, far too close to my face to be comfortable. "Naruto, wake up!"

"Oh my God…" I muttered, pulling up my blanket farther, creating a thread shield between myself and the horrid roommate I had chosen.

"Dick-less!" He cried, suddenly forcing all of his weight on top of me, squishing me beneath his larger body. And by larger I really just meant taller. He was less muscled than me, so, of course, he weighed practically nothing. Still didn't mean I didn't become very well acquainted with my mattress as he laid on top of me. "Please get up, I need you!" Against my better judgment, I pulled the blanket down. He kissed me gently on the nose, straddling my side, effectively pinning my body down against my bed. "Okay so I have class today and I need you to record Sasuke's lecture."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I pushed him off of me, sitting up and scowling at him. I turned my head to the clock. If memory served me correctly, Sasuke said his lecture would be at noon. When the clock showed it was barely past nine, I slowly turned my head towards Sai, who was still excitedly bouncing on my bed. "Really, are you fucking with me?"

"If you get up now, you'll have plenty of time to be bright eyed for Sasuke!" Sai slammed his weight down on me again. "I bet he'd love to see you sitting in the first row of his lecture hall, camera recording him for my reference."

"Are you going to start stalking Sasuke, Sai?" Because I didn't at all doubt that Sasuke had only gotten stronger over the years and he wouldn't be afraid of performing a Mortal Kombat fatality on Sai. Now that I think about it, I'm actually okay with that. "You know what, go ahead and do that."

"I'm not stalking him." Sai said with a reassuring tone, but there was too much mischief in that smile. "I'm just ritualistically obsessing over him because he is an important half of my newest OTP."

"If you don't get out of my room, I will throw you into Drumheller. It's very stagnant with duck shit this time of year."

"You're _so _not a morning person."

"YOU WOKE ME UP LIKE A SMALL DEMONIC CHILD DEMANDING I RECORD A LECTURE WHICH IS THREE HOURS FROM NOW!" I accused, very loudly. It is true though, I'm not at all a morning person and Sai was being quite insufferable this fine morning. "NOT TO MENTION, IT'S MY DAY OFF AND I WANTED TO SLEEP IN!"

Sai smiled at me, pinching my cheek. "My sweet, sweet dick-less." He was mocking me again and I planned on making good on my threat about Drumheller. "Will me blowing you help?"

I felt something inside my soul snap as I chased Sai out of my room. "AND STAY OUT!" I slammed the door behind me, flopping back down on my bed. I closed my eyes but then quickly sprung them open when I realized, much to my own horror, that I was no longer tired.

Sai was going to be covered in so much duck shit that he wouldn't be able to find enough soap to clean himself.  
-

Why was I even here?

I mostly wanted to blame Sai but I knew I couldn't place the full blame upon him. I had walked all the way off the Ave and onto campus, after all.

I shuffled around the awkwardly bunched students around the podium of the stage, making my way to the back of Kane hall. I settled myself in the furthest row from the stage as I possibly could, sighing at my own stupidity. To be frank, I had be a little curious when Sasuke said he would be teaching today. I did actually wonder if Sasuke could shed his shell of ice to be approachable enough to teach the material. I've noticed that some TAs, even in the most basic of classes, were far too arrogant to even begin to teach a class properly. Somehow, I doubted Sasuke was a case like that, but I guess if he royally fucked it up I could indulge in the greatest of pleasures by rubbing his nose in it.

I sighed, again, making a mental note that I needed to stop doing that. Sasuke hadn't even been back for two days and I was already sighing fifty times more than normal...

I mental assessed my own thoughts, twitching at the realization. Sasuke really had nothing to do with why I was sighing so much. Why was I blaming him for it?

This is because Sai woke me up too early, I nodded to myself.

After shifting around in the ridiculously uncomfortable chair of this lecture hall, I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for the class to officially begin. The chair squeaked loudly as I leaned back; I made a displeased sound in the back of my throat when two students turned around to glare at me. Wasn't my fault they decided to sit in front of me. They were lucky I didn't put my feet up on their chairs just to spite them.

"Naruto?" I turned my head at the familiar voice and noticed Itachi walking towards me, smiling good naturedly. His back hair swung gently behind him as he took the seat next to me. He leaned closer and we embraced. I had gotten to know Itachi very well during the long years of Sasuke and I's friendship; he was practically my own brother now.

"Itachi, how are you?" I asked. I couldn't help but grin goofily at him.

"Spectacular." He replied, still smiling lightly. He must have been happy that Sasuke was back in Seattle. "And yourself?"

"Oh, you know me, Itachi. Working hard, but still living every day to the fullest."

Itachi patted me on the head. A common raven trait I was starting to notice. But it was okay when Itachi did it, he was a very intimidating person at first but when you got over your initial pants wetting, he was actually very sweet. "Though, I cannot help but wonder why you're in a physics lecture."

"Ah…" I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, feeling the sweat of awkwardness building up on my brow. How do I explain this to Itachi without him thinking I'm still in love with his brother? "Sasuke came to watch my lecture yesterday and issued me a teaching challenge!" it was only a part lie, sticking close enough to the truth to where I wouldn't look like such an obsessive weirdo.

"Hn." Itachi replied, looking very thoughtful, a slight smirk on his lips. "Sasuke is quite good; I hope you didn't make a bet on it."

"As if!" I announced. "I could teach circles around Sasuke, I have panache! Teme has great hair, that's it."

Itachi chuckled in this throat, shaking his head. He was still smiling at me. "Sasuke taught at his Ivy, Naruto. He had to put up with the most annoying and nerve-gritting of students. The ones who were fathered in, the ones who would suck up, the ones who thought they knew everything. His lecture will be nothing more than immaculate."

"Is that why you're pretending to be sick, Professor Uchiha?" I perked up hearing Gaara's voice. He sounded bored and tired, like he usually did. He took the seat next to Itachi, who was smirking evilly at the red head.

"Perhaps, perhaps." Itachi had always been like this. He would hand Sasuke opportunities to prove himself and Sasuke never particularly seemed to notice his brother's intentions. I remembered the first time I saw Itachi doing this, allowing Sasuke to get a much needed pride booster from their father. It was weird, a lot of what Itachi did seemed to always benefit Sasuke greatly somehow. I smiled at the Uchiha. "But don't tell Sasuke, he was quite sour with me when I told him that he would be teaching today. I lied and said I had a doctor's appointment."

I nearly fell out of my chair at the admittance. Well, Itachi may have good intentions at heart, but I knew he was quite the crafty man when he needed to be.

"It is no business of mine what you tell your brother. You want people other than the students to witness his teaching, I understand it perfectly." Gaara said coolly, eyeing me. "Naruto, it is nice to see you."

"Gaara," My voice had such a pleading quality to it, "please tell me you're here for reasons other than Sai telling you to be."

"Oh, did he text you about recording this too?" How could he say that so casually?!

"I live with him. That was the request I woke up to."

"You should move out."

"I've considered it. But Seattle is too expensive to be roommate-less." I sighed.

"WHAT DID I MISS?" Sai jumped over one of the seats settling himself right next to me, leaning over the chair's arm and into my face. "Did Sasuke already teach? Am I too late?"

"Sai, what are you doing here?!" I wanted to strangle him. He had to be kidding me, right? Did he seriously cut class to be here? What kind of TA does that? We were supposed to be molding the minds of the newest generation, not scoping out my past love interest!

"I let class out an hour early." He said with a triumphant smile. "I knew I couldn't rely on you to do this for me. And even if Gaara is TA-ing for this section, I knew he wouldn't partake either." Sai seemed a little miffed, sticking his tongue out at the red head. "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"I'm so glad you don't participate in Sai's shenanigans, Gaara. You are my sanity in this storm." I said with a smile, gripping his hands gently.

Gaara nodded, as if he truly understood my pain.

"Also, why are we in the middle of nowhere? I wanted to be upfront and watch!" Sai crossed his arms over his chest, and seemed like he was actually three year old tantrum pouting. Typical Sai bullshit was going to seriously send me to the psych ward.

"Well then, mosey on up there." I said raising my hand to indicate the front of the room. We were in the farthest corner I could find and I still managed to be sniffed out. I hoped Sasuke wouldn't be able to see me, it would give him too much pleasure to know I was too curious to stay away.

"No, I feel if I was just there, he might throw me out the lecture hall." Sai said in a thoughtful manner. "It may actually better to watch him from a far."

The lights started to dim in the back rows as Sasuke walked out onto the small stage, microphone clipped into his shirt. He was adjusting it as he played around briefly with the classroom computer, bringing down a set of large chalkboards from the ceiling with a few clicks of a button. A projector screen also fell casting a clearer picture of him and the boards behind him, obviously meant for the students who hid in the back like I was.

Sai grabbed onto my arm, looking far too excited to learn about physics. Itachi seemed amused by this as he laughed softly, sending me a very all-too-knowing look. "Are you so interested in my baby brother that you've brought your friends along to assess him?" Itachi's words made me twitch with embarrassment. Sai leaned over me, eyes looking like he had won the lottery.

"Itachi, it's nothing like that!" I tried to assure but Sai's face meant to betray me.

"If you're Sasuke's brother, you can tell me all about the other half of my OTP!" Sai was smiling, practically fawning over Itachi like a pre-pubescent girl would over a teen-sensation. "Naruto is so stingy, he doesn't like sharing."

"Oh, this again?" Gaara sounded absolutely bored, sending Sai an absolutely chilling glare. "Sai, this 'OTP' and 'shipping' business is far too childish for a man who's going to be twenty-five this year." The red head sighed, suddenly turning his attention to me, talking over Sasuke's introduction. "Also, Naruto, how could you share those things with Sai? I know you live together and your relationship was longer than ours, but really? I had to hear it all from him, of all people."

"You try living with Sai, it's like living in Guantanamo bay. I've been tormented for information." I muttered, eye twitching at the annoyed sound in Gaara's voice as he 'hmph'ed at me. How could he be mad about that? Sai practically forced the information out of me. And since Gaara obviously knew all about it now, he must have known the way in which I was forced to reveal everything! Also, why the fuck were my exs such good friends? This would never cease to boggle my mind.

"So, you had a relationship with Gaara and your fine raven friend. Interesting." Itachi turned his head towards me, smiling eerily at me, as though I had somehow betrayed him in a horrid fashion but he was pretending he wasn't mad. "Well, well…Does Sasuke know about this?"

"No, Naruto's too dick-less to tell Sasuke." Sai replied, smiling.

"Hn, infinitely interesting." Itachi mused.

"EXCUSE ME?!" I yelled, passing both ravens a hard look.

The two people from earlier turned around again, shushing us, glaring even harder than before. Itachi leaned forward, putting on his scariest, stoic face, eyes shining with murderous intent. It was a look only a true Uchiha could produce; it was in their DNA, I swear. "How about you two mind your own business before I decide the fate of your grades?" As if they hadn't realized who Itachi was before, both seemed to suddenly get a look of utter fear, picking up their things and moving farther forward as to avoid Itachi's threat. "Continue, please, Sai, was it?" Sai was smiling wickedly and I was caught in the middle of both of them. Gaara shook his head, turning in his seat to watch Sasuke's lecture. I wanted very much to do the same but the two ravens leaning across from me, talking with such familiarity, blocked any view I had.

Were their evil minds going to fuse together? Because I could barely deal with Sai, let alone the wicked genius Itachi was. What if Itachi was Sasuke's Sai? Would he understand my suffering? Would he know of the torment I have faced in my short life? I feel like normal people didn't have to endure things like this on a daily basis. My life was bullshit.

Eventually, whatever they were talking about died down because they both disengaged from each other, giving me quite a clear view of Sasuke. To be fair, by this point I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about because I missed all of the crucial details while Itachi and Sai had their insufferable pow-wow. Itachi leaned back in his seat, smirking a little. "You know, you picked a really good day to watch the lecture."

I looked over at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's demo day." Itachi replied cryptically.

What the hell does that mean, anyway? Like was Sasuke going to ride across the stage on a wrecking ball? Because that was something I don't think I even wanted to see. However, if he was going to do it, I was sooo going to record it and tease him about it later. Nothing like gashing his invincible pride.

I turned my head towards the stage as a man walked off, giving Sasuke a thumbs up as he did so. He nodded his thanks. A heavy ball was swinging slightly in the middle of the stage. Oh my God, my fucking thoughts were coming true?!

"I have here, a pendulum."

Eh. Close enough, I guess.

Sasuke waltzed across the lecture stage, pushing his glasses up on his nose. His body moved in a strong glide; my eyes were fixed to him, infinitely curious. I had no fucking idea what he was talking about since I hadn't been privy to that information because of two certain people but I couldn't look away from him now. He was consuming the room with respectful, awe filled silence from his students. The sound of his voice, the motion of his body, they were all I could see, all I noticed. "It is an object that weights fifteen kilograms…" He went to the heavy, metallic looking ball which was suspended from the ceiling. He grabbed it, lifting it with ease. "I can lift this up one meter, as I have done now. That means…what?"

He looked around the room and for a moment I thought he spotted me in the back. I tensed but then his eyes brushed past me; maybe he didn't see. This room is huge, after all.

No one said anything, everyone just blinked, letting the silence be all consuming, all existing. "It means I have done work. MGH is the work I have done; I have increased the potential energy of this object. Fifteen times ten is hundred fifty joules…"

Sasuke moved slightly, still holding the ball. "If I let it fall…" He raised both eyebrows, a smirk on his face. "Well, it'll be converted to kinetic energy."

Sasuke took a few steps back, letting the ball reach the same height on his chest as he pulls it up; giving the rope the ball is attached to, a path. "If I let it swing, from one meter high and you were to stand on the other side of it and let it hit you…You would be dead. It only takes a hundred fifty joules to kill a human."

I watched, feeling my heartbeat pick up. "With the same principle, they use this in wrecking balls to demolish buildings. Converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy to destroy objects. It is incredibly simple." There was a small metal box suspended from the wall. Sasuke let the ball drop. Swinging in an arch, the rope took the ball straight to the metal box, the glass inside the metal rim smashing to tiny pieces upon impact. Sasuke smirked, nodding his head. He grabbed the rope as it swung back, stumbling slightly as he got the pendulum to stop swinging. "So, you're using then, the conversion of one form of energy to another to create this 'wrecking'."

He was a phenomenal lecturer; I hung off his every word. Well, now that I was paying attention, he was phenomenal. All the other stuff up until this point could have put me to sleep for all I knew; science and I had never been good friends. Though, I still had no fucking idea what he was talking about. Conversion of energy? More like: why are you wearing glasses Sasuke? Nerd.

But I was so engrossed in what he was saying now, though, that I glossed over everything I had no information for. "Since I am such a strong believer in the conservation of mechanical energy, I am willing to put my life on the line."

Mutters and chuckles filled the lips of students as they nervously leaned over each other to discuss what Sasuke was saying. I felt sourness in my gut. "If I release that ball from a certain height, then that ball can never come _back_ to a point where the height is any larger." Sasuke removed the metal box by unscrewing the small bolts on the corners, setting on the side of the lecturing stage. "If I release it from this height," He poked the wall with his hand and then stepped back a few meters across the stage. "Then it can never gain a height higher than the height from which it was released, due to the conversion of energy and then the reconversion and so forth. That is what we are told. That is what I believe."

Sasuke came back to the wall, placed his back against it, the metal ball still in hand. Everyone was staring, some with mouths open as Sasuke pulled the heavy ball towards his torso. "Provided I give this object no speed while I stand here, I will be correct. I trust the conversation of mechanical energy." Sasuke let the ball tap his chin, lining it up for when he would drop it. My heart was thundering. If he fucked this up, he could die. He already said that. Sweat beaded up on my brow. How could he look so cool? How could he not show a single bead of nervous sweat? "That being said, I don't not fully trust myself to release this object a zero speed. It may come back and touch my chin, but hopefully it will not crush my chin. And if that is the case, well, I guess you guys won't exactly have a final to worry about…"

Everyone in the room was bubbling with nervous laughter. I felt my fingers cramping from how tightly my fists were clenched. Why was I here? Why was I watching this?

Sasuke closed his eyes. "Three, two, one…" He released the ball and the air caught up in my throat as it made the first swing across the room. There was a few nervous gasps as it swung back, barely brushing Sasuke on the chin. He opened his eyes, back flat against the wall. He smirked. "And that is how we know physics still works and I am alive. Have a good rest of your day."

Everyone immediately started clapping and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. Itachi was smirking next to me, obviously satisfied with Sasuke's performance. Students started to swarm the stage as Sasuke pulled the microphone off his shirt. I only barely caught it; Sasuke looked up towards the farthest corner of the room, the corner in which I sat…He winked at me.

HE FUCKING WINKED AT ME WHICH MEANT HE KNEW I WAS HERE THE ENTIRE TIME!

I felt heat rushing into my cheeks as Sai leaned into my face, smiling ridiculously wide.

God please help me…  
-

"Sai, this better be important." Gaara complained, sitting down across from the raven haired artist. He was calmly stirring sugar into his black coffee.

"It is important, Gaara. I need to talk about the other half of my OTP."

"You need to stop referring to them as that." Gaara observed, his luminous green eyes sparkling with annoyance in the dim light. Sai was just smiley and obviously didn't seem fazed by Gaara's annoyance for what the two past lovers were called. The red sighed, conceding. "Which one is it this time?"

Sai sighed, pulling off his visor and setting it down on the table. He ran a hand through his hair. "Naruto."

Sasuke immediately perked up hearing the Dobe's name mentioned so casually by the other raven. He hadn't meant to listen in. Hell, he hadn't even meant to go into Starbucks today but since Itachi was playing sick with him, he needed a pick-me-up so he could finish going over and adjusting the lectures to his teaching style. Itachi even suggested he come to this specific Starbucks since the off-campus WIFI was far more efficient and speedy that the ones shared on campus. Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, trying to focus on his work. The WIFI part had been true but…

"What about him?"

"Don't you think it's kinda weird?"

"Sai, you're going to have to be more specific. I think a lot of things about Naruto aren't considered to be normal." Gaara rolled his eyes. "But then again, he has been living with you for nearly six years so that could have contributed."

"That's what I mean."

"Mean about what?"

"Naruto being weird."

"Oh? So you agree that you made Naruto weird?"

Sasuke couldn't focus on his work and had to physically restrain himself from turning his head so he could hear the two of them better. Over the soft humming of customers and the music, he had to focus his hearing on them to just make out what they were saying. Perhaps if he moved closer…

The Uchiha shook his head at that comment. They would definitely notice him then. He was practically obscured by the table separating them; it was full of girls who kept sneaking little glances over at the Uchiha, eyes hungry.

Sai brushed off Gaara's comment, shaking his head. "No, no, I mean…" The raven stopped in the middle of his sentence, as if recalculating his thoughts. "This could be my psychology degree talking but Naruto and I could be considered close, right?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose so."

"And he and Sasuke are close, right?"

Sasuke perked up again, hearing his name and wondering what exactly the two of them were talking about. This didn't seem like your average conversation. The Uchiha stretched his back, his chair scooting away from the table as he moved somewhat closer towards the pair.

"I swear to God, Sai, if the next thing out of your mouth is about a threesome, I'm leaving." Gaara said darkly.

The Uchiha made an amused sound in the back of his throat, smirking despite himself. As if he would ever have a threesome with Naruto and that annoying guy.

"Ménage a trios aside," Sai continued. The smile could be heard in his voice. "I just mean, it seems strange to me that Naruto is open about everything else except his relationships." Gaara nodded his head, agreeing. "It shouldn't have to take me beating him at a game for him to fess up."

"Good job, by the way." The red head complimented.

"Thank you." Sai smiled with much happiness. "But I digress, Naruto admitted to me that Sasuke doesn't know about us."

Sasuke perked up once again having his name dropped for a second time. He couldn't help himself. He turned towards the pair, locking them in his sights. The Uchiha could hear them far more clearly now and they didn't seem to notice his stare at all, enwrapped in their conversation.

"Naruto didn't tell him?"

"Nope."

"How is that a problem? Shouldn't you be relieved?" Gaara questioned. "You seem pretty convinced that Sasuke is here _specifically_ for Naruto."

Sasuke couldn't help but scoff a little at that comment.

A picture of his brother came into Sasuke's head and he knew when he got home, he might very well throttle his 'sick' Aniki. Sometimes Itachi's intentions were not so well hidden.

"Besides, it'll also be easier for me as well. We work together, after all." Gaara continued and the red head brushed his bangs out his face. "Sasuke not knowing about my relationship with Naruto may actually be for the best."

The Uchiha nearly choked on the coffee he sipped at. Naruto had told him he had other relationships but as the blond informed him, he was currently single and had been for the past couple years. Sasuke started to wonder if he had misread the relationship status between Sai and his blond. His eyes narrowed considerably as he pulled his laptop cord from it the plug. He closed the laptop as well, despite his own mental protesting that he was getting too invested in this conversation. So what if Naruto had relationships? Hadn't he also had other relationships? Sasuke frowned.

"Yes, but your relationship with Naruto was a lot shorter than the one with me. You two dated for six months. We dated for almost two years before we went to 'friends-with-benefits' status."

"Sometimes, I can't believe he still sleeps with you."

"We almost slept together last night too." Sai replied, almost triumphant. "But then he punched me. Not the physical contact I wanted."

"Hm…" Gaara mused thoughtfully. "Knowing you as well as I do, I can only suppose you took it over the line."

"I just offhandedly told him he could call me 'Sasuke' during. I wouldn't be offended. It would be like role-playing."

Sasuke's frown only deepened as he thought about Naruto with that annoying raven. His hands all over the blond's skin, kissing him, making love to his body. His fingers started to ball into a fist.

"You really have absolutely no tact, do you?" Gaara shook his head.

"I digress again." Sai said putting up a finger as if to interject. "If it is blaringly obvious to me why he's not spilling it, you must know too."

"He just simply doesn't like to talk about those things."

"Not true." The raven shook his head. "When I asked why the two of you broke up, he told me clearly without much prodding. It took years of torment to get Naruto to even open up about Sasuke a little. Apparently the sex was great, by the way."

"I don't want to know." Gaara waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not obsessive, like you."

"But you do think that it's strange, right?"

Gaara sighed loudly. "Yes, but it is obvious why Naruto doesn't like to talk about it."

Sasuke leaned back even farther in his chair, mind flying around as he jumped from one conclusion to another. And what, dearest sage Gaara, was the reason why Naruto was so secretive?

"I also think it is obvious, but why is he hiding it?" Sai replied, shaking his head. Sasuke thought for a moment that the raven had spotted him but he didn't make any move to acknowledge him. "Sasuke is also the same in that regard."

"Tch, you seem so sure about that." Gaara muttered.

"Psychologist, remember? I don't just run experiments on lab rats." Sai replied. "I've had to sit down and have real sessions with students. When they don't open up, they're hiding something. Those things are all pretty revealing signs. I mean, I've had my suspicions for years. That's why I broke up with Naruto."

"Really? I always thought it was mutual thing."

"It was; my reasoning was different than his, however. He said the charm had left our relationship because we spent too much time together; I knew he'd never love me as much as I loved him." Sai clarified with a shrug. "But the physical stuff was fine. Which was why the benefits clause was in the terms of our break-up. He doesn't particularly like going out and finding new partners. It is sloppy, not to mention impersonal. He is a creature of habit. And he knew I would completely indulge him because they were my own desires too."

"I also had that feeling when Naruto and I were dating that perhaps, as his partner, I was inadequate." Gaara sighed, rubbing the area between his eyes.

"It kind of hurts to know, right?"

Sasuke slid his laptop back into his carrying case. He was going to do it. He was going to go over there and demand every iota of information out of the two of them. Sasuke wanted to know everything he could. There was a strong emotion bubbling up in his gut. They were dancing around the topic entirely neither of them _said_ what he wanted to hear from them. He needed the confirmation.

"Let's stop talking about such a gloomy topic." Sai added suddenly. Sasuke was only a couple steps away from their table and a sudden possessive heat enter his blood. They couldn't just drop that topic like it was nothing. He needed to know more! "Naruto's party tomorrow, are you coming?"

"I know I will." Sasuke said, not knowing where such a strong tone of voice came from inside of him. Gaara's eyes widened as the Uchiha dragged a chair over to the table, taking a seat in between them. Pale green eyes flicked between the two ravens. Sai didn't look shocked at all that Sasuke had suddenly appeared. Gaara frowned, clicking his tongue.

"Typical." He muttered under his breath, kicking Sai's shin from underneath the table.

"I'm glad you'll be coming Sasuke." Sai's smile was too bright, too revealing. The Uchiha 'hn'ed at the comment, only nodding. "Oh, by the way, has Naruto sent you our address?"

"Itachi has it." Sasuke replied in a monotone. "They're close."

"Excellent." Sai suddenly got up, making Gaara have a somewhat strained look to his face. "Well, I have to get back to work. If you're ever here while I'm working, Sasuke, I'll give you a free discount on coffee." The raven winked at the Uchiha before grabbing his visor and slipping it back on.

Gaara bit the inside of his lip, wondering if Sasuke had heard everything. The Uchiha got up from his spot. "Please excuse me, I will also be leaving to finish work." The red head nodded feeling like he had dodged a bullet.  
-

The one thing I loved about Seattle during fall is that it always got dark around the perfect time. Sai had gone through the arduous task of renting out our apartment complex's patio for the night. It was usually used for get-togethers which were supposed to inspire neighborly comradery. Sai and I were always too busy to go. But tonight, against the expanse of city lights and stars, this was where my party would be taking place. The night air was perfectly cool and slightly moist; the forecast said it wasn't supposed to rain tonight but since we were in Washington, we prepared a canopy. Rain and coffee; that was Seattle.

Sai really took parties too seriously, lighting up tiki torches and stringing paper lamps with little Christmas tree sized lights in them all around the paved over area, giving off an eerily romantic lighting. He even set up a small bar area, where people could get drinks, which he personally volunteered to make, claiming his barista experience was infallible for mixing up cocktails. Of course, he started working there after the first incident as bar master so…

He really was perfect to host this, even though I wanted everyone to enjoy themselves and not have him work so hard. He insisted though. And once Sai set his mind to something, it would happen.

I opened up a glass sliding door, hearing the slight thumping of the music from the other side. Sai just brought out his laptop for the occasion, with little, incredibly effective speakers and made some kind of playlist so when everyone was drunk enough, they would start dancing. I knew that was a guilty pleasure of mine, usually dragging an equally drunk Sai or Sakura to the dance floor with me. They never seemed to mind.

I walked out with a tray, something that Sai had asked me to buy beforehand so we could have 'proper' party food. Luckily Dick's was known for their sliders so I doubted anyone would complain. Besides, parties are for fun. No one wants to eat healthy when you're having fun. Cucumber slices, boo. But sliders, stupendously yay. I handed the tray to Sai and he placed them on a small table with chips, dip, and plates. He had really gone all out this year; as almost demonstrated by the wide collection of bottles gathered around the bar.

He stood by the small bar, admiring his handy work. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled at me. "Thank you, Sai."

"Anything for my dick-less." He said with a shrug. "Plus this way, it gets me out of buying you a present."

"Stingy." I commented, smiling.

People were already lingering around; I spied Gaara and Sakura chatting by the cooler filled with bitch beer and regular ol' brewskis. Both of them laughed when one my associates from the department fumbled with the cooler lid, practically throwing it in the grass after exerting too much force. Sai 'tsk'ed his tongue but shook his head. He slid behind the bar, smiling lightly at me as he pulled out a glass.

"Now, what can I get you to start your party right?"

"I feel like if I said 'surprise me', you'd just give me a cup full of vodka and I'd end up in our bathroom all night, again."

"Wouldn't be my fault if you drank it all." Sai said, shaking my finger. "This will not be a repeat of your twenty-third birthday; I learned from that mistake."

Ah yes, the year where Sai made everyone's drinks too strong and we all ended up vomiting. And by all I literally mean all; no one was spared. It wasn't a pretty scene. But I threw up on Sai right before we were going to have sex, so I mean it wasn't a complete disaster. He even admitted when I had my head in the toilet and he was in the shower, throwing up and showering at the same time, that it was his 'bad'.

The year after, admittedly we were all a little wary of his drinks but they proved to be much better that time. So, I could only assume this year I won't end up in the bathroom again.

"Uhh, what do you recommend?"

Sai handed me a drink in no time flat, giving me an absolutely over the top little umbrella to go with it. He smiled. "Tequila sunrise."

"Really? Tequila this early?"

"I want you to shake that ass!" Sai said with really poorly hidden amusement. He laughed a little as an arm slung over my shoulder, embracing me in a sloppy back-hug.

"I think we all want to see that." I turned, seeing Sasuke looking down at my drink. "Tequila already?"

"Sasuke! Oh my God! It's been _years_ since I've seen you." Sakura came rushing up to us, throwing her arms around him while he pulled away from me. He gave her a somewhat limp hug and she immediately pulled back, examining him with a skeptical eye. "Why are you here?"

"You didn't tell Sakura about moving back?" I questioned. Sasuke just shrugged.

"YOU MOVED BACK!?" She threw her arms around Sasuke again. "I can't believe it!"

"Believe it." Sasuke said with a smirk. "I'm here, in the flesh. Your arms are around me, after all."

"The three of us together again reminds me so much about our High school days." Sakura said with a far-off look. The three of us were practically inseparable, being the three best of friends. Though, Sakura initially got close to me to get closer to Sasuke, she eventually grew out of the childish crush, even being the first person to really congratulate us when Sasuke and I got together. "You guys gunna act out those days tonight?" Sakura winked at me and I sputtered, feeling flushed.

Sai slammed down another drink on the bar, sliding it a little closer to Sasuke. It was thick with red juice, looking more like blood than anything. I felt a little sick at the thickness of the concoction. "Bloody Mary. Itachi informed me that you don't really like sweet things." He sent a small wave towards the said Uchiha who was chatting with Gaara. The Uchiha winked back. I felt a sinking feeling in my gut.

"Itachi's here too? Won't he feel strange mingling with us mid-twenties when he's now, not only a professor, but thirty?" Sakura asked, sending a somewhat skeptical look over to the taller raven. He seemed to be pretty amused, smiling softly as he conversed with Gaara.

"Itachi likes bitch-beer, he will be where they flow." Sasuke commented with a shrug. "Besides, we're close family, right?" Sasuke sent me a glance and I nodded slowly. Sasuke took the drinking from the bar, ice clinking lightly against the glass."Thanks." He nodded to Sai, showing a little appreciation for Sai's consideration.

"Shall we begin the party now?" Sai was smiling at me, shaking up a drink, obviously meant for Sakura, who was currently without one. I took a large swig of my drink to answer Sai's question, but also hoping it would quell the fire burning in my cheeks from Sakura's earlier comment.  
-

**And that's where I'm ending it for today. I ASSURE YOU THAT THE NEXT CHAPTER THOUGH WILL HAVE WHITESNAKE IN IT AND IT WILL BE FUCKING GLORIOUS.**

**Naruto: How could you leave it there?  
Me: Eh? Don't want to give everything away…  
Naruto: You said this was going to be a short story, with the way you blatantly lie about everything when it comes to stories I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up with like fifty chapters.  
Me: Could you imagine how long that would take? I'd be in grad school myself at that rate.  
Naruto: Just remember your priorities…  
Me: yeah, yeah. I hope you enjoyed! This was Hitoko-sama! **


End file.
